Saved By Love

In the end, our precious world will not be saved by guns and brute strength and missiles at the ready. It will not be saved by diplomatic handshakes dressed in suits, nor will it be saved by dogmatic scriptures that promote intolerance. In the end, our precious world will only be saved by love. Served up, dished out and ever abundant. In the end, or before the end, it will be the responsibility of women to serve it up, dish it out and pass it on. It will be the responsibility of women to save the world with our God-given instincts to nurture and heal and love.

Before women can save the world, we must first save ourselves. We must find the buried strength within our cells to respect ourselves and act on that respect. Even if no one around us is offering respect in our direction. Even if we have been falsely taught we are less than. Even if it takes a very long time.

Education, through books, the Internet and organized classes, is key to recovery and empowerment. So is the support of others~ friends, family, groups and the enlightened men who see the inherent strength of the female. Once we are empowered, or even just on our way to empowerment, we can then offer our respect and love to anyone who may need it, in the quantity we are able to give it. One by one, two by two, and three by three, the world will begin to feel the effects of this most powerful energy of love.

Not every woman need participate, and many will be unable. But if enough feminine hearts are joined, each singing her own tune of love, slowly, slowly the world will be transformed. The darkness may never fully retreat, but it will wield much less power. Because love will ever be the victor. Ever be the answer to poverty, disease and abuse. Love will join minds and hearts to create previously unheard of solutions for the ills of the world.

Love, the supreme creative force of the human species, can only be unleashed on the world through the heart of the feminine energy. The heart of the Daughters of God. Let us begin to serve it up within ourselves. Let us begin to dish it out to any who need it. Let us begin to encourage others to pass it on. Let us begin to save the world.

The Uncrowded Path

My life is not extraordinary. I don't win prizes. I don't save lives. My personal masterpiece is not forthcoming. But I do walk a different road than many. It is an uncrowded path that requires faith in a Higher Power to keep my feet on some sort of solid surface. Without much company on this path, I have occasional moments of doubt as to the next best decision and next best footfall. I can pause in mid-step when other opinions contradict my instincts, and my safety and sanity seem to be in question. It is during these pauses, one foot unsure of releasing its ground to take the next step, that I must remember who I am. I must remember my core truth.

My core truth says that human beings are inherently born good and worthy and deserving of love. My core truth says that human beings are born equal in the eyes of God. We are each a unique, impossible-to-be-duplicated loving expression of that Higher Power. And we each have choices as to how we express that uniqueness, including the unique choice to not express.

My core truth says I am much happier when I am expressing who I am, even if that expression rattles those who love me. Because to deny God-as-It-expresses-through-me, is to deny the vast opportunities for joy in this smorgasbord of life. To deny joy is to deny God.

In my uniqueness lies my safety and my sanity. In my uniqueness, along the uncrowded path, lies my solid ground. From that solid ground, all my decisions and my choices are correct for the continued expression of God as myself. It is the same, my friend, for you.

Rock On

Papal Mojo part 2

Scandal...
Celebrating the arts.
Indulging in sugar addictions.
Playing the Good Shepherd.
Hitting the sauce.

Papal Mojo

Papal bodyguard...for dangerous missions of mercy.
Eternal Beverage Meister Hoping to wipe the "4th Crusade" slate clean...
Nature-lover
Member of the Solo Mile High Club



Lothar dei Conti of Segni, aka Pope Innocent the 3rd, our fearless, 6" tall action figure of occasional ill-repute, has decided to come out of the contemplative's closet and resume saving the world. Innocent has been recharging his batteries and firing up the Papal Mojo to launch his most ambitious projects to date.

On June 6th, Innocent will undertake a whirl-wind tour of Bogota. Being a lover of cultural diversity, and madly passionate for flowers, Inny has packed his bags to roam the rose farms of Colombia and hopefully, fingers crossed, have a personal encounter with Our Lady of Everything on the Catholic continent.

And... starting immediately, Pope Innocent the 3rd will be taking your prayer requests for salvation, redemption and cures for hangnails. Write to Inny at: innocentprayers@yahoo.com. In his quest to unite the world and save the world from itself, Innocent the 3rd will be lighting candles and personally praying over all reasonable and unreasonable requests. Need more romance in your life? Ask Inny. Need a new guitar? A new wig? A new-to-you vintage Winnebago to travel the countryside and offer your own brand of salvation to the masses? Ask Inny. He's got Papal Mojo at the ready, just for your benefit...and lots of penance to pay for that 4th Crusade.

For The Love of Romance

I once fell in love with a 4 year old cat. When my heart tumbled, she was in the bottom row of ASPCA cages at the local pet store. Her eyes captivated me, as well as her big, pink ears. After buying food for my 2 cats, I said good-bye to Miss Pink and said a prayer for her speedy adoption. I cried the whole way home.

3 weeks later, needing more cat food, I found Miss Pink still on the bottom row. I fell on my knees in front of her cage. She had waited for me to come to my senses and realize I belonged to her. Because true love should never be ignored, adoption proceedings started that day. Bold-faced lying and bribery were part of the proceedings, as my residential 2-cat limit had to be circumvented. Within days, she was adopted by a kind friend and handed off to me in the pet store parking lot. I snuck her into my home and named her Romance. 10 years later, the love affair continues.

As with all successful love relationships, compromise and sacrifice must be offered. Tomorrow, I will sacrifice my summer wardrobe on behalf of an outrageously priced tooth extraction for my dear Miss Pink. A molar is infected, causing pain and the pronounced deterioration of her little heart. Why spend stupid sums on a 14 year old cat? Because I owe her. I owe her for every moment of joy she has blessed me with. I owe her for every motor-boat purr and every tear she has let me drop on her coat. No new skirts or sandals or summer beads are worth the exchange for a love of mine to be in pain. For the quality of her remaining days to be anything but the best I can give.

We are here for each other's salvation. Human, animal, plant and Mother Earth herself. If it is in our power to ease pain and offer love, we must not shirk that sacred duty. We must not turn our backs on golden opportunities to save our souls through service to others.

Clearing Clutter Continued

Dear Don,

I'm clearing more clutter. I uncovered my studio table, recycled a mountain of paper, emptied drawers and weeded through my music collection. I moved things around and rearranged. Again. Call me obsessed. Call me insane. I can't stop this quest for zen, this quest to lighten my inner and outer load. This morning, while brushing my teeth, I got more answers as to why I continue clearing. Whoever gave me the answers wanted you to know as well.

I was told we are constantly evolving. We are constantly changing. We are meant to never lose sight of our dreams, never give in to stagnation of soul and spirit, never cease to uncover our glorious, individual essences of God. But the world is heavy and our duties are heavy and we can easily slip into waking unconsciousness where we become numb to our beautiful gifts and talents. Where we cease to be aware of the changes within.

When we have changed and evolved, through good seasons and bad, we need to weed out the inner and outer representations of our lesser-evolved selves. Because we are not the same anymore. We are more open to new opportunities, new adventures, new avenues to bliss. If we have let go of who we used to be, 3 years ago, 3 months ago, or even 3 weeks ago. Shoes, dishes, music, artwork, clothing, dusty collections, tools, and general crap we haven't used or worn or acknowledged in too long, all represent our lesser-evolved selves and are holding our new selves in an old pattern. Holding our new selves back from moving forward. Because that general crap is no longer symbolic of who we are right now. That crap is no longer facilitating our evolutionary path to the bliss and the dreams and the talents we are meant to offer right now. Yes, the shoes may still fit, the tools may still function, the dishes may still be pristine, but if they are not a true reflection of who we are in 2007, they are literal and figurative dams stagnating the flow of our lives. Our ever-evolving lives. Our purposeful and peaceful lives.

Don, it's about letting go of who we were in order to embrace, at a full run, the fabulous beings we have morphed into. We can only know and embrace those beautiful beings if shackles and shoes of former selves have been weeded out and put to the curb.

While There Is Still Time

If there is something that needs to be said, say it. If there is something that needs to be done, do it. If you have a dream, pursue it. If great adventure is calling, answer the call.

If you are holding back, holding on or holding in, let go.

Give hugs. Give praise. Give all you've got.

Practice kindness.

Offer forgiveness.

Recognize grace.

And never, ever, withhold love.



Because tomorrow, the next hour and the next minute may never come. For Christopher, the 45 year old, charismatic man and father to Hannah, whose funeral I will attend tomorrow, the end came unexpectedly and swift. Those that knew Chris are aching for one more minute, one more word, one more laugh, one more chance to bask in his sunshine and tell him how much he meant to them. Because we all assumed we would have plenty of time. We all assumed wrong.

Vow to say it, do it, and pursue it. Let go of grievances. Let go of fears. Offer your best self to the world, while there is still time, still breath in your lungs and still so much love to give.

Beauty Lives Everywhere

Sea Obsession

Lately, the sea is calling me. And I live no where near it. Being a grand lover of woodland landscapes, fresh water creeks and leaf-litter carpets, it confounds me, this new and sudden obsession with the sea. Its colors and textures and sounds and treasures. Pale blue sea glass. Conical shells. Sand in my shoes. Salted, wrinkled fingertips. Meditative, repetitive foam-capped waves. Sun and wind and odors of wetness. In my waking dreams, I am lying on the shoreline, baptized repeatedly by the flow and the ebb. Welcoming and releasing, birthing and dying. Surrendering to each cleansing surge and retreat.


Unlike the compressed safety of the woods, the sea is wide open. There is no where to hide when standing on a shoreline. There is only exposure and vulnerability and the need for daring to face the unyielding elements. To face the storms and not be dragged to the bottom of the final frontier. To survive and thrive and wring happiness from a storm-soaked heart and mind. This is the message of my obsession. This is the challenge I have asked for as I seek spiritual growth and inner strength. To know when it is time to exchange the woods for the sea and witness my evolution in the face of high winds and unruly waves. To expose myself on the shore of the unknown and come away knowing I was never vulnerable to begin with. Because everything is survivable when faced in the wide open. When faced head on. When faced with the truth in my heart.

"Stop hiding", calls the sea. Be willing to risk exposure. Be willing to risk the previously unthinkable, vulnerable adventure. To risk the great love, the great dream, the great release of old wounds. "Stand on the shore, lie on the shore. Just be willing to show up and get wet", calls the sea. It asks me to be willing to face what must be faced, then marvel at the treasures that wash up at my feet.

COEXIST

Ironing With God

Yesterday, fueled by rare domestic inspiration, I ironed. I am overcome with the need to remove wrinkles from my wardrobe or table linens on a seasonal basis at best, and yesterday the season was upon me. Now, every summer t-shirt is crisply hanging from a wooden rod in my closet, neatly arranged next to my newly pressed summer pants. I gazed at my accomplishment at length, knowing full well the likelihood of a repeat performance of this wrinkle-free zone may take an act of God. Or an act of desperation.

Not desperation for perfectly smooth cotton, but desperation for Universal wisdom. It seems, while ironing, my Higher Power dropped by for a Universal chat. It took advantage of the quiet, meditative state I was in, turned the volume down low on my Nora Jones CD and sent streams of assurance, understanding and inspirational pearls into my brain.

I ironed as long as the inspirational one-sided conversation lasted. It lasted long enough to finish my summer wardrobe. It lasted long enough to calm my nerves. It lasted long enough to achieve a deep sigh of relief in the center of my heart.

My Higher Power told me that chaos is a means to cut through the fear that holds me back. That chaos is actually a direct path to my betterment. That vulnerability exposed in the chaos is needful for me to birth a new way of living. That my ego will, in the end, submit to the changes it fears the most.

My Higher Power told me that patience is needed for anything worthwhile to manifest. It told me to not pull up new growth by its roots and for pity's sake, stop questioning if what I've planted really is growing. It is.

My Higher Power told me the only one I have to trust, ever, is myself. If I trust myself, I will only attract trustworthy people into my life. My Higher Power reminded me, again, that all answers lie within my own heart. Because my heart is mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually connected, in every chaotical nano-second, to the Source, the One, the Mother-Father God. Connected to the Higher, Omnipotent Power that cares enough to direct the growth of each blade of grass, each sea creature's fin, each feather, each bone, each follicle of fur, and each moment of my life. My worthwhile life. My sacred life. My life of spectacular grace.

My Higher Power told me to be still more often. To iron more. To meditate more. To make myself more available to the ever-present streams of Universal wisdom, assurance and inspiration. Not only will my wardrobe improve, so will my inner peace.

Saving Grace

Dear Pisces Project~

I found her. Right where you said she would be, beyond the fear. Instinct told me, the best place to find her was off the beaten trail, trespassing in the woods with her digital camera. Trillium were everywhere, carpeting the leaf litter from last year. Sunshine, cool breezes, trees, woodpeckers, chipmunks, 3 kinds of butterflies and singing cardinals. Enough wildflowers to fill Heaven. And no one else in sight.

Peace came.
Peace came.
Peace came.

All photographs copyright(c)2007 Graciel

Saving Grace part 2

All photographs copyright(c)2007 Graciel

The Red Trillium

All photographs copyright(c)2007 Graciel

Watch This...Pass It On

http://www.freehugscampaign.org/

The Mission

Where has she gone? Where is her passion, her drive, her full flaming heart? Where is the Woman who loves love and believes in world peace? Where is the Daughter of Nature who lays with her chest against the new April grass and exchanges heart beats with the Great Mother? Where is the Champion of a woman's right to free self expression? Where is the Artist, the Lover, the Advocate for trees? Where is the Writer and Thinker and dependable Friend? Where is the Woman who talks with Faeries and meditates and knows there is more to this world than meets the eye?

She is lost. Lost under grey skies and dirty floors and lack of time for dreaming the not-so-impossible dream. She is lost to the energy drain of working for others. She is lost to the sadness of empty rooms and empty hands.

My only mission is to find her. The only way to find her is to love her. The only way to love her is listen to the cries of her heart. To make time for her dreams. To help her remember that God is the fullness of heart, hand and home.

To Risk

William Arthur Ward, "To Risk"

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing is nothing.
She may avoid suffering and sorrow, But she cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live.
Chained by her servitude she is a slave who has forfeited all freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.
The pessimist complains about the wind;
The optimist expects it to change;
And the realist adjusts the sails.

April Walk

Crap-ectomy

The physical environment within our homes contributes to the quality of our lives. We are constantly involved in an energy exchange with the things we choose to live with. The quality and the energy have to do with our reaction to the things we bring in and keep in our environment. Every object either lifts us up or weighs us down. Stagnates us or sets us free. Enriches us or depletes us. If we love something or need something, it contributes positive energy to our daily lives. If we don't like something, are indifferent to it, or if we're hoarding something out of fear, it serves as an energy drain. That drain contributes to ill health, ill thoughts and lack-luster lives. To increase our energy, boost our health and uncover the missing luster, we can choose to change the atmosphere within our homes. We can choose to get rid of the crap.

Crap is defined as: clothes that are stuffing closets that haven't been worn in 2 years. ( We are either too fat, too thin, or we never liked the rags from the get-go). Magazines in piles, read and unread. (We can live without the uptight recipes from Martha's kitchen. There simply aren't enough hours in the day). The lamp or the vase or the drippy picture of butterflies that Aunt Evelyn gave us for our wedding or that milestone birthday. ( Since when do we need to live with Aunt Evelyn's taste, especially when it is not ours? We'll tell her the vase was victimized by the cat). Receipts from 10 years ago, books we will never read again, kitchen appliances dead in the back of the cabinet, slivers of soap neatly stored under the bathroom sink. Crap is anything that serves no purpose, does not enhance our lives and takes up valuable space in our limited space.

Often we feel paralyzed when facing the daunting task of getting rid of our crap. We have so much, we'll never get through it all, Aunt Evelyn will be mad at me... and on the excuses go. Where do we start? We start with one closet. One cabinet. One drawer. One cluttered counter top. We make a small commitment and go forth from there. We look carefully at each object and ask if it makes us happy. We consider if we truly need it. We reclaim our space, one small effort at a time. We surround ourselves with only things that we love, and that serve our higher good. We recycle, donate and remove the rest.

Harmony and happiness and good health lie beneath the clutter and crap. We must take charge of our personal environments. We must make them a true reflection of our goodness and worth. We must let the positive energy we deserve flow freely in our homes if we want it to flow freely in our lives.

Only...

Bless the World

I subscribe to the idea that thoughts and words have power, that thoughts and words create reality. Both individual and collective realities. My world, my reality is a tapestry of thoughts and ideas I have repeated to myself over and over. My world is reinforced, torn down or built anew based on self-talk, as well as mental and verbal declarations. As I think, so shall I be. In the beginning was the Word. Argue with me all you want, but the exact same principle applies to you. It also applies to the world at large.

The human world, in its current delicate state, is a tapestry of agreed-upon thoughts, beliefs and declarations. The prolific "ain't it awful" diatribe heard in every office building, every shopping mall, every sports bar, and every diner, to say nothing of the private home, is a contributing factor to the chaos the world is currently in. Negativity, pessimism, hopelessness, and prejudice are powerful creative forces we are all collectively, and unknowingly unleashing on the world. Our individual private worlds, and the world as a whole.

What do we do to take back our power, to strengthen the state of human affairs, to save the world from human blight? We start talking. We start declaring positive, optimistic, hopeful and unbiased words to each other and to ourselves. We take back our power by thinking more carefully before we speak. By refusing to engage in the "ain't it awful" conversations. By choosing not to slander races and religions and regions of the planet we know nothing about.

What else do we do to save the world and save ourselves? We ask the God of our choice to intervene on our behalf and the behalf of any situation that concerns us. We speak the command, we ask to receive, we invoke through our thoughts and our words the most powerful Force in existence.

Worried about the current, chaotic direction of the United States of America? Ask God to bless America. Ask it over and over without insisting on how that blessing is to be doled-out and received. Worried about the devastation and death and war in Iraq? Ask God to bless Iraq. Ask every single day. Ask passionately. Ask without condition. Let God invoke the ways and means to support the Iraqi people in a dignified, sustainable and loving manner. Let our collective, powerful words assist in the creation of stability in the cradle of civilization.

Concerned about the ethnic cleansing in Darfur? Ask God to bless Darfur. Concerned about the child sex-slave trade in Cambodia? Ask God to bless Cambodia. Don't despair, don't feel helpless, don't give up. Use the power at hand in your living room in Topeka, in Liverpool, in New Dehli, in Santiago. Use the power of thought and the spoken word to assist in the creation of a more loving reality for the human race. Speak to uplift. Speak to rebuild. Speak to bless the world.

The Great Madness

I have moments of madness. Lengthy minutes of self doubt. Blinding flashes of crumbling confidence. In the madness, I am paralyzed. Wings are severed from my body. Blood pulses at a deafening pace. Hope and reason are seemingly lost.

In the madness, the familiar madness, I have learned to pray. I have learned to remove myself from the opinions of others and convalesce in the presence of God. We meet most often on the floor, with a lavender blanket and a cup of tea. On the floor, wrapped in the blanket, I sit and ask for guidance. I sit and listen. I simply sit.

In the convalescent silence, madness meets its doom. Wings are reattached. Blood quietly flows. God whispers to my quiet mind of hope and reason and great truth. God reminds me that my truth is different from the truth of others and that the secret of bliss, the secret of inner peace, lies in heeding the taylor-made guidance for me. The guidance that says, my heart alone has the answers to my questions. My heart alone has the direct link to God's atlas for my path and its quality. My heart alone is the only opinion that matters in matters of my life, my love and my bliss.

And so it is with you. Sit through the madness. Care not for the opinions of others. Allow the presence of God, the whispers of God, to direct your truth and your life. Feel your wings unfurl and allow the moment-to-moment bliss you richly deserve. There beyond the great madness, there beyond the self doubt, in the presence of God we will meet. All truths will be honored, all hearts confirmed, all wings will have strength to fly.

Easter Greetings

Happy Easter to all my peeps...

A Vote For Inspiration

http://www.thebestofblogs.com/2007/03/page/2/

It seems my friend, Polli, had nominated my blog for the "Best Inspirational Blog of 2006". Go figure, I made the top 10. Now the voting begins. To be honest, I don't know what this all means. But Polli has such faith in my writing and I want to honor her trust in me. So, could you please help this endeavor and click on the above link? Scroll down to the 3rd category, Inspirational Blogs, and click on my "Evenstar Art" button to cast your vote. Oddly, you can vote each and every day until April 13th.

I read something about Las Vegas and maybe a little sidebar icon if I win. Cash would be better, but heck, the icon would be neat for all you 13 regulars who check in with me.

I appreciate your help, and your vote. I'll let you know, after Polli lets me know, what the outcome is. A year's supply of European chocolate would also be nice...

The Stones Of My Desire

I have a desire to embrace and love the world. A longing to understand other people, other cultures, other ways of expressing joy. If desires are pure and heart-based, if they serve a higher purpose and open doors for more goodness to rush in, the Universe is obliged to fulfill them. The Universe will scatter the stones that create the path to walk boldly into the arms of desire. 3 months ago, the stones of heaven began raining down on the uncharted land before me. A path was formed. An opportunity was created. Desire beckoned me forward.

3 months ago, I began a technology-facilitated conversation with a man from another country. A country I have given little heed to in my life, despite the ongoing media blitz. A man from ancient Babylon, now known as Iraq. Fascination, revelation, humor and endearment are the hallmarks of our daily contact. It thrills me and pains me and enriches me to hear about his daily life and his larger life in a country filled with torment.

Surprisingly, we have more in common than would be initially conceived. No religious affiliation, a love of laughter, a search for truth, the same limited palette for wine. We do, however, have different levels of tolerance for issues of human behavior. Where he beats me hands down is in tolerance of the self. My desire to know the world, to know compassion and tolerance for the world, has led me rocketing back to my own inner world. The world a man thousands of miles away can accept and appreciate and applaud. The world I compulsively judge and question and find lacking.

My fascination and revelation lie in the Universal truth that one cannot have tolerance for the world if one does not have tolerance for the self. In seeking the outer, I am ultimately seeking the inner. Because bottom line, the is no outer world. Everything is a reflection of the one mind and body and soul reacting to itself. To love and embrace the world, I must love and embrace myself. No judgement. No questions. No lack.

The Universe knew to scatter the stones of my desire between Buffalo and Baghdad. It knew my secret desire, my first desire was to love and embrace myself. It knew precisely, in all the world, the soul to facilitate and tolerate and beckon me onward to higher purpose. It knew time and distance and impossibility do not exist when love and all worlds are waiting to be embraced.